Riamal: Skeletal remains believed to be those of a female elephant were recovered from the Gogua reserve forest near Khilei village in Riamal forest range of Debagada district Friday, forest department officials said Saturday.
The remains were spotted by Nuadihi Forester Golakh Patta and his team during a routine patrol. The forester informed the Debagada divisional forest officer (DFO) soon after the discovery. DFO Rashmi G, Assistant Conservators of Forests Swadhinata Sahani and Arun Behera, and Riamal Ranger Niranjan Dharua, along with other forest personnel visited the site and launched an investigation.
Based on the condition of the remains and the surrounding circumstances, officials suspected that they belonged to a female elephant.
The skeletal remains and other body parts have been sent to the Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar for further examination and to ascertain the cause and other details of the death, forest officials said.